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About Lincoln County Historical Society
Our historical park attempts to replicate one of the small communities that used to exist in rural Georgia. In Lincoln County, you drive by signs that say, Kenna, Liberty Hill, Goshen, Woodlawn, and many others, but there’s not much there – our park reminds us of what may have existed in these places.
The Lincoln County Historical Society is a non-profit association organized to perpetuate the economic and cultural history of Lincoln County. The park was created over the last 30 years by the Historical Society from a bare tract of land, using lots of elbow grease and almost completely volunteer labor.
Come and enjoy our display of treasures to help keep history alive.
Our Historic Buildings
1700 Estes-Ferguson-Lake Smokehouse
1790 Andrew Jackson Reid Log Cabin
1800 Hardy Corn Crib
1840 Rees Cotton Gin
1883 The Hogan Blacksmith Shop
1890 The FM Hogan General Store
1900s Salem School House
1910 Groves May House
1930 Tenant House
1950 Glaze Saw Mill
The Lewis Family Pavilion
The Estes-Ferguson-Lake Smokehouse
This smokehouse was built around 1790 and was previously located on the “Estes Place” on Lovelace Road. It was one of the first buildings acquired by the Lincoln County Historical Society.
The Andrew Jackson Reid Log Cabin
The Andrew Jackson Reid Log Cabin was built around 1800. The 16'x22' structure boasts 2 porches, wooden-shutter windows, an open face fireplace, and a variety of period furnishings. Records show it was once the home of Andrew Jackson Reid who fought for the South in the Civil War.
The Hardy Corn Crib
The Hardy corn crib is an 8 x 10 log structure that came from the “Old Frank Hardy Place” on the Augusta Highway. In days gone by workmen used pitchforks to dig the unshucked corn out of the crib.
The Rees Cotton Gin
The L E REES cotton gin is an early Samuel Griswold gin that is an animal-powered gin believed to date back to the 1830s or ’40s. It was manufactured in Clinton, Georgia. Very few gins of this type still exist today. The cotton gin was donated to the Historical Society by the heirs of the Maude Rees family.
The Hogan Blacksmith Shop
The blacksmith shop is a replica of the old blacksmith shop on the “Hollinshead Place” on the Augusta Highway. It contains two forges, one run with bellows, and the other is run with a hand-turned blower. Some of the artifacts acquired include blacksmith anvils, forges, horseshoes, and pieces of harnesses.
The FM Hogan General Store
The Hogan General Store was moved from the Woodlawn community where it sat for the past 100 years. It was donated to the Society by the Grandchildren of F M Hogan. In its heyday, the store carried flour, fresh eggs, cheese, potatoes at 2 cents a pound, candy, Nehi drinks, cotton fabrics, overalls, dresses, shoes, socks, cigarettes, chewing tobacco, cigars, snuff, hand-chipped blocks of ice, gasoline, kerosene, coal, and oil. The store was the hub of activity in the Woodlawn community. It had a pot-bellied wood-burning stove in the back where men came to play checkers and card games and catch up on the local news.
Eventually, the post office of the Leathersville community moved to Hogan’s store.
The Salem School House
Salem Academy is a one-room schoolhouse dating back to the early 1900s and was relocated to the park from Salem Baptist Church in July of 2006. When the school was completed its first teacher was Ms. Grace Dill. The people of the Leathersville community were so happy to finally have their own school. The school is furnished with antique desks, old primers, and a pot-bellied stove. Also making the trip with the school was a “four holer” outhouse!
The Groves May House
The Groves- May house was built in 1878 and consisted of two rooms with a separate kitchen in the back. It originally sat on Peachtree Street in Lincolnton where Bell’s Grocery Store is now located. The two-story front section was added in 1882, The front left parlor and the room behind it were used as bedrooms as well as the bedrooms upstairs. In 1885 the original kitchen was destroyed by fire and was replaced with the existing kitchen with a breezeway connecting it to the back dining room. In 1920, the back porch was widened and screened in. In 1925 a bathroom (indoor plumbing) was added in the area of the current bathrooms as well as an open “sleeping porch” on the second floor.
Tenant House
Built-in 1930 by landowner J R Colvin for his tenant farmer John Bennett. It was originally located on White Rock Road. It was donated by Beth Colvin Huff and moved to the park in 2009. Near the door, you will find pages from the memoires of J R Colvin that describe the close relationship between his family and the tenant farmer John Bennett. The chimney was rebuilt after the move to the park to match the original design which had bricks on the upper area and stone at the bottom. The house has no running water or electricity. It is an excellent example of a Tenant House—a relatively rare structure since they usually are not preserved.
The Glaze Saw Mill
The sawmill (circa 1950) was previously owned by Frank Glaze and had been relocated to Royston, Georgia. About ten years ago, the Society purchased the sawmill and brought it back home to Lincoln County. The sawmill is still used for various projects around the park.
The Lewis Family Pavilion
The covered pavilion was constructed in 2001 and in 2003 was named in honor of the Lewis Family of Lincolnton, GA. It is a 60-foot x 80-foot multi-purpose structure that features a stage, restrooms, storage rooms, a sound system, and slated wooden pews purchased from the Union Grove Campground in White County, GA. The Lewis Family, America’s first family of Bluegrass Gospel Music was organized in 1951. The group has continued for over 50 years en-compassing 3 generations of the family. In 1992, the Lewis family was inducted into the prestigious Georgia Hall of Fame.